10 Directors Who Famously Hated Their Movies

Rough month to be Matthew Cullen, director of the long-delayed adaptation of Martin Amis’ novel London Fields. The film made it to a handful of theaters after years of squabbles between the director, his producers, and star Amber Heard, only to meet with a dismal reception. (Of which, full disclosure, I was part.) You’ve got to hand it to Cullen, though — the man’s taken it all in stride. Where many directors have dug in their heels and insisted that the American public was too simple-minded to appreciate their lofty vision, Cullen instead conceded that the film did not come out very well. He claimed that he “agrees” with the film’s ignominious 0% Rotten Tomatoes score, and that he only refrained from scrubbing his name from the film’s credits entirely because that would bar him from discussing the whole mess with the press. That’s Hollywood, baby!

He’s far from the first filmmaker to turn his back on one of his own creations. They’re a sensitive bunch, artists, prone to harsh reappraisals of their own work more warranted on some occasions than others. Below, ScreenCrush has rounded up ten examples of motion pictures disowned by their directors, from the rarities forbidden from seeing the light of day to the highly public embarrassments to the unnecessary acts of self-deprecation.